This is a timeline of the states' admission to the United States.

The 50 individual states that make up the United States are co-sovereign entities with the central government. In light of the division of powers between the federal government and the individual states, all U.S. citizens hold dual citizenship. In their official state names, Commonwealth states like Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia distinguish themselves from other states by using the term "commonwealth."

Throughout the United States, the states serve as the most fundamental political divisions. They have all the authority that is not specifically given to or forbidden to the federal government by the United States Constitution. Concerns such as intrastate commerce, elections, the formation of local governments, public school policy, and the construction and maintenance of non-federal roads are generally under the purview of state governments. Republican principles form the basis for each state's constitution and government, which consists of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. [2]

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and it includes representatives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Two senators and at least one representative are assigned to each state, with the size of a state's delegation in the House of Representatives determined by that state's population as of the most recent decennial census required by the Constitution. There's also the Electoral College, which votes for the President and Vice President of the United States, of which each state gets a certain number of representatives and senators to represent it. [4]

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to decide whether or not to Union" target="_blank">admit new states into the Union in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1. Originally consisting of 13 states, the United States now includes 50. Each newly admitted state is treated on par with the others. [5]

Below is a table with information about when each of the 50 states became independent. First accepting the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776, the first 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, one by one between 1777 and 1781. (An AoC ratification timeline is provided in a separate table below.) These states are listed in the order in which they joined the new (and current) federal government upon ratification of the Constitution in 1787. As stated, each subsequent state's admission date is a statutory mandate. [a]

List of U S states [ edit ]

State Date
(accepted or approved) Made up of 1   Delaware Monday, December 7th, 1787 [8]
(ratified) The state of Delaware as a colony[b]. 2   Pennsylvania Thursday, December 12th, 1787 [10]
(ratified) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a Proprietary State 3   New Jersey On this day in 1787: [11]
(ratified) New Jersey, the Former Crown Colony 4   Georgia On this day in 1788 [8]
(ratified) A British Colony in the State of Georgia 5   Connecticut January 9th, 1788 [12]
(ratified) Connecticut, a former British colony 6   Massachusetts Thursday, February 6th, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Boston, Massachusetts, a Royal Colony 7   Maryland April 28, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Maryland, a colonial-era colony turned-property province 8   Carolina del Sur May 23, 1788 [8]
(ratified) South Carolina, a Crown Colony 9   This New Hampshire1 June 21, 1788 [8]
(ratified) The State of New Hampshire as a Royal Colony 10   Virginia June 25, 1788 [8]
(ratified) Royal Colony and Dominion of Virginia 11   New York July 26, 1788 [13]
(ratified) New York, a Royal Colony 12   Carolina del Norte Dated: November 21st, 1789 [14]
(ratified) North Carolina, a former British colony 13   The Ocean State: Rhode Island1 May 29, 1790 [8]
(ratified) Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Royal Colony 14   Vermont March 4, 1791 [15]
(admitted) The Republic of Vermont 15   Kentucky June 1, 1792 [16]
(admitted) Nine counties in Virginia's District in Kentucky(d) 16   Tennessee June 1, 1796 [18]
(admitted) Territory to the Southwest 17   Ohio March 1, 1803 [19][e]
(admitted) Territory in the Northwest 18   Louisiana April 30, 1812 [21]
(admitted) The Province of Orleans 19   Indiana On this day in 1816, December 11
(admitted) Those Parts of the United States That Are Currently Called 20   Mississippi Dated: 12-10-1817 [22]
(admitted) State of Mississippi 21   Illinois The date was December 3rd, 1818. [23]
(admitted) Part of Illinois Territory 22   Alabama Dated: 12/14/1819 [24]
(admitted) Alabama State 23   Maine March 15, 1820 [25]
(admitted) District of Maine (Massachusetts) 24   Missouri Thursday, August 10th, 1821 [26]
(admitted) A Portion of Missouri Territory 25   Arkansas June 15, 1836 [27]
(admitted) Specifically, the Arkansas Valley 26   Michigan Thursday, January 26th, 1837 [28]
(admitted) The Michigan Territory1 27   Florida March 3, 1845
(admitted) The State of Florida 28   Texas On this date in 1845: [29]
(admitted) Texas Republic 29   Iowa Yesterday, on the 28th of December, 1846
(admitted) A Portion of Iowa Territory 30   Wisconsin May 29, 1848 [30]
(admitted) A Section of Wisconsin 31   California Nine September, 1850 [31]
(admitted) Partially Organized Lands / Cession to Mexico[g] 32   Minnesota May 11, 1858 [32]
(admitted) Region of Minnesota 33   Oregon 14 February 1859
(admitted) A Section of Oregon Territory 34   Kansas Monday, January 29th, 1861 [33]
(admitted) The State of Kansas and Adjacent Areas 35   State of West Virginia1 June 20, 1863 [34]
(admitted) Virginia (all fifty counties in the Trans-Allegheny area[h]). 36   Nevada October 31st, 1864
(admitted) The State of Nevada 37   Nebraska March 1, 1867
(admitted) The State of Nebraska 38   Colorado The First of August, 1876 [37]
(admitted) The Colorado Area 39   The State of North Dakota1 Monday, November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) A Portion of Dakota Territory 40   This is South Dakota1. The date of November 2, 1889 [38][i]
(admitted) Section of Dakota Territory 41   Montana Dated: November 8th, 1889 [41]
(admitted) Places in Montana 42   Washington On this date in 1889 [42]
(admitted) State of Washington 43   Idaho July 3, 1890
(admitted) The Idaho Panhandle 44   Wyoming July 10, 1890
(admitted) Wyoming, the State 45   Utah On this day in 1896: January 4 [43]
(admitted) The State of Utah 46   Oklahoma Saturday, November 16th, 1907 [44]
(admitted) The Indian and Oklahoma Territories 47   New Mexico Saturday, January 6th, 1912
(admitted) The State of New Mexico 48   Arizona On this day in 1912 — February 14
(admitted) Specifically, the Arizona State Region 49   Alaska On this date in 1959:
(admitted) In Alaska's case, this means the territory itself. 50   Hawaii When: 21 August 1959
(admitted) Island of Hawaii

A timeline of the ratification of the Articles of Confederation [ edit ]

On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were approved by the Second Continental Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification. Once all 13 states ratified the Articles of Confederation, they became effective on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation, the predecessor to the present Constitution, were abolished on March 4, 1789. [45]

State Date 1 Virginia It was on December 16th, 1777, that 2 Carolina del Sur Wednesday, February 5th, 1778 3 New York On this day in 1778, February 6 4 The Ocean State: Rhode Island The Nineteenth of February, 1778 5 Connecticut 12 February 1778 6 Georgia February 26th, 1778 7 In the state of New Hampshire March 4, 1778 8 Pennsylvania March 5, 1778 9 Massachusetts March 10, 1778 10 In the state of North Carolina April 5, 1778 11 New Jersey When: Tuesday, November 19, 1778 12 Delaware On this day in 1779: February 1 13 Maryland Tuesday, February 2, 1781

See also [ edit ]

• Among the many legislative acts that made up the "Compromise of 1850," the one that led to California's eventual admission to the Union was the California Gold Clause.
• Battles between anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups in Kansas Territory broke out in the years leading up to Kansas's statehood in 1854–1861.
• The Enabling Act of 1889 gave the people of the Dakota, Montana, and Washington territories the legal right to organize themselves into new states and join the Union.
• The Oklahoma Enabling Act granted the people of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory the right to organize a state government and seek admission to the Union as a single state. It also granted the people of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories the same right. which calls for a vote on whether or not the two areas should be united as a single state.
• In 1959, the Alaska Statehood Act was passed, officially welcoming Alaska into the Union.

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

The term "external links" is used to indicate [ edit ]

• "Videos of the 50 States" History com
• "Independence Day" 50states com